Meats Futures Prices

by cmdtyNewswires - Tue Dec 18, 5:09PM CST
Live cattle futures saw 45 cent to $1.025 gains in the nearby contracts on Tuesday. Feeder cattle futures were up 60 cents to $1.025 on the day. The CME feeder cattle index was down 65 cents on December 17 at $145.55. Wholesale beef prices were higher on Tuesday afternoon. Choice boxes were up a penny at $212.68, with the Select cutout value 97 cents higher at $204.73. USDA estimated FI cattle slaughter at 120,000 head on Tuesday. That brought the WTD total to 228,000 head, 13,000 below last week and 9,000 head fewer than the same week last year. Wednesday’s FCE online auction shows just 255 head for sale, all from KS. Analysts estimate that the December 1 cattle on feed number will be tallied at 11.3724 million head on Thursday, up 1.8% from a year ago.Dec 18 Cattle closed at $119.775, up $0.750,Feb 19 Cattle closed at $122.575, up $1.025,Apr 19 Cattle closed at $124.600, up $0.750,Jan 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $146.200, up $0.825Mar 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $144.300, up $0.975Apr 19 Feeder Cattle closed at $144.950, up $0.850--provided by Brugler Marketing & Management

by cmdtyNewswires - Tue Dec 18, 5:09PM CST
Lean Hog futures posted triple digit losses in the front months, with most other contracts 65 to 95 cents lower. The CME Lean Hog Index was down 4 cents from the previous day @ $55.13 on December 14. The USDA pork carcass cutout value was up just 4 cents at $72.00 on Tuesday afternoon. The belly and loin primal cuts were reported lower. The national base cash hog carcass value was 36 cents lower at a weighted average of $45.86 this afternoon. USDA estimated Tuesday’s FI hog slaughter at 477,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 954,000 head. That was 4,000 head lower than the previous week but 12,000 head above a year ago. Some trade estimates call for the hog herd to be 102.4% of year ago when USDA issues the Hogs & Pigs report on Thursday.Feb 19 Hogs closed at $62.650, down $1.175,Apr 19 Hogs closed at $67.825, down $1.150May 19 Hogs closed at $73.700, down $0.950--provided by Brugler Marketing & Management